Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (May 5, 1813-November 11, 1855) was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and psychologist. He was critical of both Hegelianism and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Danish National Church. His philosophy deals with how one lives, focusing on concrete human reality over abstract thinking.
Writing on Christian ethics and the role of the Church, Kierkegaard emphasized personal choice and commitment by exploring the emotions and feeling a person has when faced with life's choices.
His philosophical method was inspired by Socrates and the Socratic dialogues.
In a letter to his friend Peter Wilhelm Lund, August 11, 1935, Søren Kierkegaard wrote:
<What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die...
I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing.> 1813SK001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1813SK001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Søren Kierkegaard, August 11, 1935, in a letter to his friend Peter Wilhelm Lund. Søren Kierkegaard, The Essential Kierkegaard, edited by Howard and Edna Hong (Princeton, 2000).